Upcoming Events

Leap Of Faith

Standard

In my early days of learning astrology, I subscribed to Dell Horoscope magazine. There I found Donna Cunningham’s regular article to be of great interest. She would take questions from people, publish their birth chart, and use astrology to reply to them. It was kind of like a “Dear Abbey” column. When I started to get some experience reading charts, I would read the question, study the chart, and try to come up with my own answer before reading what Donna Cunningham wrote. A few years later when I finally met Donna, I told her that I considered her to be one of my first teachers. I think she was honoured. So… in the spirit of helping people learn astrology, and of offering readers clarification for cycles in their lives, I would like to offer the same type of column.

One of my Facebook friends recently sent me a message: “…I am embarking on a journey, taken a leap of faith. See what the next few months will have in store for me.” With the person’s permission, I decided to reply here on my website, making this the first installment of my new series: Through The Lens Of Astrology.

Dear “Leap Of Faith”,

The timing of your request for some astrological clarification is absolutely classic. There are four major things going on in your chart at present — usually one is enough — so no wonder you are seeking help to sort through everything!

I’ll start with one of the most direct players: Saturn. Saturn has been transiting your 10th house since the end of 2011 — an indication that your attention has needed to shift to your career, your goals, your accomplishments. At the end of June 2012, Saturn stationed at 22° 46′ of Libra, making an extremely tight square aspect to your Ascendant-Descendant axis. That brings an extra dimension to this message.

In general, Saturn through the 10th house can make things seem more demanding at work. Perhaps you’ve been given extra responsibility or have sensed more obligation or duty creeping on the scene. Saturn can also bring a restricting or limiting influence — downsizing would be an appropriate theme here. This is not necessarily a negative thing, though, as we all need to have a reality check from time to time if things have been expanding too fast, too soon. Saturn going through your 10th house will certainly bring the topic of authority to your career; perhaps you have an overly demanding boss at this time, or perhaps it’s your own leadership skills that are rising to the top now. The message here may be to focus your goals, consolidate your duties, and reap the rewards of hard work.

The fact that Saturn, in its retrograde passage, just recently came back to the point in the zodiac that so tightly squared your Ascendant has got me thinking that part of your professional challenge at this time has to do with relationships. You may have sensed that there are some people in your career world — or your life in general, for that matter — who no longer provide you enjoyment or growth, and you may question your continued involvement with them. This, in fact, is a testing time for all kinds of relationships. In an unusual way, there is a kind of freedom that comes along with this transit; although it may be difficult to say goodbye to some people, it is time to stop wasting energy on relationships that don’t give you something in return.

Coupled with this message about relationships is our second topic. The nodal axis of the Moon is soon to cross over your Sagittarian Sun. This often brings new relationships on the scene — relationships that will help you on your life’s path. You may notice people from the past showing up again; they may bring reminders of where you are from in order to help you steer yourself to where you are going. You may get nudges from people to move out of your comfort zone. Do pay attention to these suggestions, but as you’ll read below, you need to make your decisions on what you know is best for you.

All people in their early forties experience some of the same astrological milestones at about the same time. I can’t remember which astrologer coined this phrase (was it Sandy Hughes?), but rather than thinking you are entering a mid-life crisis, think of this as a mid-life epiphany! You are in the process of experiencing a type of revelation within yourself, and it is fascinating to see how astrology can monitor the process. This is our third topic.

One of the significant phases that you are in right now is timed by Neptune having moved 90° from where it was at the time of your birth. Because Neptune is conjunct the Sun in your birth chart, this will be especially significant for you. For all of 2012, you may be questioning your purpose, or may be trying to measure the progress in your life according to some idealistic scale that you set for yourself. 2012 is a year for you to do some deeper listening to yourself. It’s surprising that, when we are in our forties, we think we have a good understanding of who we are; this transit reminds us that there are layers to our personality that haven’t yet been explored. Yes, take some time to retreat, to reflect, to meditate, to listen. But be careful that you don’t over-exaggerate what you see as problems in your life. If you catch yourself worrying about something, remind yourself that things aren’t meant to be in place yet for you; there’s no point in worrying. Go do some other task, or go visit a friend, to take your mind off it.

You have the Sun-Neptune conjunction in your birth chart, so you already are intuitive, creative, and spiritual. Being in Sagittarius, “faith” is definitely one of your themes. With this transiting Neptune square to both natal Sun and Neptune, you are picking up even more information subliminally these days; some of it is absolutely accurate, but some of it may be based in fantasy. It can be a confusing time that way because you might not be sure of what’s real and what isn’t. With that in mind, if you are tempted to make any major changes in your life (which, by the sounds of your message to me, you have already done or are about to do) keep in mind that you are still learning about yourself this year, and that you might be making decisions on information that isn’t quite “finished” yet. Give yourself until February of 2013 to figure out what is best for you.

As I’ve mentioned in some other articles, the years 2012 through 2015 will see some great changes in the world as we know it. Uranus and Pluto are doing a dance in our solar system, being exactly 90° from one another no less than seven times within the next few years. There are some individuals whose chart will be getting a significant dose of this planetary energy at one time or another, and yours, dear friend, is one of them.

For all of July 2012, Uranus has been sitting in a 135° aspect to the Midheaven of your chart — another indication that you are up for some changes in career. This time, the message is that you are having to deal with sudden obstacles and there might not be anything in your power you can do about it. As Uranus is transiting your 3rd house, you may be required to learn some new skills as a result of these unexpected changes. Due to frustration, though, you might be tempted to bail. Although this energy subsides a bit for a while, it comes back at the end of March 2013. There will be more to the story that unfolds then.

Pluto, too, made a similar contact with your Midheaven, albeit a 45° aspect. There may have been roadblocks in your career, power struggles, or “behind the scenes” matters that take place this year — with particular emphasis in February, June, and December 2012. Pluto often makes us destroy what isn’t working to make room for something new. It ain’t subtle.

The Midheaven shares an axis with the Immum Coeli (or IC) of the chart, so matters of home and family may be brought into the scene as well. It could be that a change of residence is in store due to a change in career, or that a change in career is needed due to a change in residence. They’re connected somehow.

In summary, this is definitely a year that you will remember. It is somewhat of a threshold for you. It seems that you are needing to deal with demands that are very real and very practical, while at the same time, you are morphing into a slightly different person. There is a bit of the “aiming for a moving target” scenario here, although you are the one who is moving, not the target. Because of the various energetic demands on you as reflected by your chart, things may end up happening out of sequence, but in a year or so, you’ll have made sense of it and can realign anything that still may need “tweeking”.